Always
by I Am Sweden
Summary: SPOILERS FOR BROTHERHOOD! Before Edward leaves, he says goodbye to those who helped him along the way- but then again, it's never really goodbye, is it?


**I've had this fic finished and withering on my computer ever since FMA:B ended. Honestly, I had forgetten all about it until I bothered to skim through everything in My Documents (I've had a tiring day and I'm bored, alright? XD). Anyway... SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS. Have I made myself clear?**

**Waltz**

Music swelled around the room, and giggles were evident from everyone in the room as he awkwardly took her hand. Sweating hard, he placed a shaking arm at her waist. He quickly looked up to judge her direction, but Winry was only blushing like mad at her granny.

Ed swallowed hard, wincing as he started to waltz with her.

He could practically hear Mustang right now: _You'll thank me in the long run, Fullmetal._

That slimy, two-faced-

"Ow! You stepped on my foot!" Winry hissed.

"Oh. S-sorry, Winry," Ed stuttered in response, looking down at his feet and refusing to look away.

Now there came unconcealed laughter. Above the rest of the chortling crew, Ed heard Major Armstrong laughing the hardest. He tossed a glare at the tall alchemist, but he only grinned and gave the boy a conspiratorial wink. Whose side was he on anyway?

A thought suddenly occurred to Ed. Why was the Major here in the first place?

With a roll of his eyes, he simply accepted the fact that Major Armstrong had… _ways_.

Riza gave him a small grin, standing at Mustang's side. The lieutenant smirked- as was expected. Ed had to hold back the snappy comment on his tongue. _Just get through this. The song is almost over. I'll dump Winry off with Al, and I'll make a run for it. Almost… over…!_

"Straighten up!"

Ed immediately when rigid at the sound of Izumi Curtis. He resembled a deer caught in headlights as his old sensei crossed her arms and cocked an eyebrow. Sig Curtis stood like a brick wall behind his wife, grinning and giving him a thumbs up.

Those two… those two, the Major, Mustang…. All of them would _pay_….

Then came Al, shorter in his original body again, grinning along with the rest of them. Ed frowned to his younger brother- _So, Al's a traitor too? This is awful._

_At least that awful excuse for a father isn't here. He's gratefully dead, thank the Lord._

At long last the song ended.

"Ed," Winry started, smiling at him. "Ed, I want to make sure I've fixed your leg."

He gave her a weird look.

Suddenly, he felt something pulling at his automail leg. It felt like a wrench, tightening up the bolts….

_Darn._

Edward palmed himself, turning to the crowd. "I knew something was up when I laid eyes on ugly Envy."

The once smirking Homunculus suddenly frowned. "Hey, watch who you're talking, too, kid."

But Ed only nodded and turned to Ling. "You're the emperor now. You don't have time to come and watch me make a fool of myself. And Al- you're supposed to be halfway to Xing by now!"

His brother nervously scratched his head. "Well… it _is_ your dream, brother."

Ed let out a sigh. "Yeah. And what a weird, crappy dream it is."

"Ed? Helllllllo in there!"

"Hang on, Winry," Ed muttered, turning back to the figments of his dream. "I guess I've got to say goodbye to you guys this way, then. So… I guess this is goodbye."

"Eddddddwaaaaaaard!"

Ed, ignoring Winry's voice, cast a haughty look to Hohenheim, who had just arrived in the doorway. "See ya, old man."

After several disapproving looks (mostly from Izumi, Pinako, and General Armstrong), Ed finally rolled his eyes and admitted, "I guess… you weren't _too_ bad at the end. Um… I'll miss you?"

Izumi gave him a satisfied nod. "Yeah," Ed repeated. "I'm gonna miss you… Father."

He grinned, fading into a bright light. Ed turned to Mustang, Riza, and the Armstrong siblings. "I guess we won't be seeing each other for a while, eh? Well… I'm just glad we got to meet, and I'm going to miss all of the times we argued and went through kidnappings and such."

Major Armstrong burst into emotional tears, grabbing Ed in a crushing bear hug. "I will await your return as well, Edward Elric!"

Laughing, Ed took a safe step away from the Major and turned to Scar, Mei, and Dr. Marcoh. "I'm sorry we were enemies most of the time, but it was all sort of fun, I have to admit."

To Ling, Lan Fan, and Fu: "I'm glad you're the emperor, Ling, because with everything you've went through to get that seat of power…. Well, I'd say you're the obvious choice. And… thanks for helping us out on the way."

They too disappeared in a flash of light. Ed finally turned to Izumi and Sig. Smiling wryly, he said, "Thanks for everything, Sensei, Sig. Even when Al and I thought you two were demons, you were actually sort of like guardian angels almost. Thanks."

Izumi smiled and pulled him into a hug, fading into light around him.

Ed looked at the Homunculi. "Lust, Gluttony, Envy, Pride, Wrath, Greed, and Sloth: I'm not too sure I can say I miss you and that we had a fun time- considering that we were trying to _kill_ each other the whole time- but I'm going to miss having you guys as rivals. Sort of."

Envy rolled his eyes. "Oh, suck it up, human. You're too darn sappy."

"Oh, you know you're jealous," Greed put in with a laugh before disappearing into a flash of light with the others.

"Hmm…. I guess you're right."

He faded with a faint smile on his lips. Ed smiled and turned lastly to Pinako, Den, Winry, and Al. "And lastly, I just can't thank you guys enough. Granny… you've put up with us the whole time, just like we were your own grandkids. Den, you were a great dog to play with when I was waiting on my automail to be fixed. And Winry… geez, I know I'm going to get in plenty more goodbyes for you before we leave, and-"

"Just what do you mean by that?" the blonde asked, cocking an eyebrow.

Ed flinched back. "Eh… well, I-I mean… uh…-"

Winry just laughed, making Edward grin again. _I always did love her laugh._

With finally only Ed and Al left, the brothers smiled to each other. "We've been together so long…," Ed mused, ruffling his little brother's hair. "I'm not sure what I'm going to do without you, bro."

"You'll do fine without me. Besides, we're all here rooting for you, remember? And you can always come back to Amestris or come visit me in Xing whenever you like. It's not like we're never going to see each other again."

Ed nodded. "I know. But, still, it's going to be weird to look over and not see you standing with me all this time. Still, I guess we've got to go our separate ways. For the good of everyone."

Al nodded, too. "We owe it all to everyone who's helped us get this far."

Right as they both grinned and simultaneously started to fade into light, Edward said, "I'll miss you, brother."

"Me too."

"EDWARD!"

Shooting up into a sitting position, Ed scowled down at Winry. "What? I was taking a nap."

"Yeah," she bitterly agreed, rising to her feet. "A nap while I'm making adjustments to your leg. Can't you be a little more considerate?"

Ed laughed and hugged her, taking the mechanic by surprise. "Thanks, Winry. So, I'm good to go?"

"…Y-yeah. But… I-I mean…."

The two blushed. "I'll go with you to the station," Winry said awkwardly. She put away her tools and left for her room.

Grinning, Edward stuffed a photo of Winry, Granny Pinako, Al, and himself in his suitcase. He pulled on a new, brown suit- which he always found to make him look too old, like an old grandpa- and tied his golden hair back.

As he walked down stairs to see Pinako and Winry waiting by the door, Ed felt a grin creeping to his face.

There at the beginning, and there at the end.

_Always._


End file.
